Avril the artist

Today has been a wonderful voyage of discovery. It was our initial plan to go to Goolwa for some bird photography, but I suggested that we first take a detour to check out the dam wall at the Mt. Bold Reservoir.

Then we thought that we might as well check out the antique shops of Strathalbyn, as they were not too far away, and in the Goolwa direction.
To do this we took a side road to Mt. Compass which looked like it would be an interesting drive.

But again it was another change of plan as the day was slipping away, so we headed for the road to Willunga. On the way we happened to go past a roadside Cellar door sign which said - "Magpie Springs Wine, Art, Coffee". We could not resist calling in.
(This was at Hope Forest, not far from the top of the famous Willunga Hill, the hill of pain in the Tour Down Under international cycling race.)

The Magpie Springs grounds are a spectacular sight. Surrounded by gums, dams and vines, all alive with beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula wildlife. Joint owner of the property with her husband is well known artist Avril Thomas.

Avril Thomas is one of Australia's leading portrait painters. Her main focus is portraiture in charcoal, graphite, pastel and oil. Avril’s works can be found in Hong Kong, U.S.A. as well as all round Australia.

Avril and her gallery.

Her career highlights are many and include:
Entering her portrait of Alexander Downer, “The Minister from Downunder” for the 2005 Archibald Prize, which made Avril a finalist.
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint Her Excellency Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, Governor of South Australia.
Her portrait of Dr Bazil Hetzel AC, “The Remedy” now on display at the Bazil Hetzel institute. This was used by the great man himself at the University of South Australia's exhibition to celebrate his achievements, May 2012.

After chatting with Avril and enjoying an artisan coffee roasted on site, I asked her if she would allow me to shoot some informal photos of her, posed in the doorway of the main gallery area. She kindly agreed.

She is presently holding an exhibition of paintings by an outstanding Malaysian artist, Alan Ramachandran, titled "Impressions in Watercolour".
If you want to know more about Avril you can check out this link.